Zero expectations, p.10
Zero Expectations, page 10
“Because I know who Lucius is?” I retorted, annoyed that he was talking to me like I should know things that I didn’t. Hell, I was annoyed with this entire situation.
“Lucius Traxler is my best friend,” Roman said with a clenched jaw. “He’s been my best friend for years, and his sister, Phoebe, babysat the twins for me before they started kindergarten.”
“Still don’t see why you’re telling me all this,” I snipped, hating myself for doing what I’d promised him and myself that I wouldn’t do.
“I got drunk last night and Phoebe’s husband, Derek, had been kind enough to let Phoebe drive me home,” he continued, his voice sounding as aggravated as I felt. “Lucius, Alec, and I had a guys’ night out, and trying to avoid any DUI arrests, Phoebe had babysat us.”
“Sounds like a fun time,” I drawled out.
“I wasn’t with another woman,” he practically snapped. “But if you want the details about last night, I’ll gladly tell you.”
I glanced back over at him. “Anything that you do outside our one-hour time frame is none of my business,” I replied, itching for a fight because…well…because I was confused and…and confused.
Ignoring me, Roman said, “I was pissed that you introduced me to your friend as just your neighbor." That took me back a bit. "I was pissed that you’d been crying, but I had no idea why. I was pissed that you dismissed me like I didn’t matter.”
“That’s what we agreed upon,” I reminded him. “You said-”
“Fuck what I said,” he snapped. “I know what I said. I know what we agreed to. I know that I’m being a hypocrite. I know all that.” His jaw clenched again as he looked back into the yard, looking at his children playing with my dogs. “I also know that I spent last night at a goddamn strip club that was supposed to be fun and entertaining, but all I could think about was how my kids were staying the night with my parents and how you weren’t with me.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“Alec and Lucius were having the time of their lives, but all I had managed to do was get shitfaced drunk because I couldn’t be home with my children or here, buried deep inside you,” he finished.
My heart began thumping wildly in my chest. If Roman was telling the truth, then I wasn’t the only one that had crossed that sacred line of no promises and zero expectations. I wasn’t the only one that had felt more over these past few weeks. It wasn’t just me looking stupid.
Choosing something safe, I said “I was crying because my boss is a dick, the puppies are still in training, and I’m pre-menstrual.”
“Baby, I know when you’re pre-menstrual, so you could have left that part out,” he replied easily, and he spoke as if he were already my boyfriend or something. “We’re already going on two months here.”
“Daddy, we need a dog,” Zoey announced, pulling our attention in her direction. “I need a best friend.”
“I’m your best friend,” Zach stated simply.
Then, in her infinite wisdom, Zoey said, “Yeah, but I need another best friend for when you’re mad at me.”
“I’m never mad at you,” Zach replied. “You’re a girl.”
“Daddy says you can’t be mean to me, but you can still be mad at me,” Zoey corrected. “So, I still need another best friend for when you’re mad at me.”
“I’m never mad at you,” Zach repeated. “I can’t be mad at myself.”
I had to roll my lips in between my teeth to keep from laughing. It was clear that Zach had a skewed view on what it meant to be twins, but talk about freakin’ adorable.
“You’re wrong, Zach,” Roman told him. “It’s possible to be mad at yourself.” Before Zach could comment on that bit of life advice, Roman added, “And you’re not replacing your brother with a puppy, Zoey.”
“They’d actually be really good with a puppy,” I remarked. “I see it in the way they are with Nic and Tin.”
“I’d rather talk about this fucking date that you have this weekend,” Roman said, his voice sounding sourly again, but not loud enough for the twins to hear.
I looked over at him. “You went to a strip club last night,” I reminded him. “So, how about we not do this?” I wasn’t ready to admit that I’d lied about having a date. “Plus, we’ve got little ears that might pick up on our conversation.”
“Those little ears don’t give a shit about what we’re talking about,” he fired back. “Zoey’s too busy hatching a plan to get a puppy, and Zach’s too worried that she really does want to replace him as her best friend. They’re not paying any attention to us, Haven.”
Deciding on honesty because he’d been honest about his strip club experience, I said, “There is no date. I was trying to salvage some pride after seeing you take another woman home.”
His jaw ticked. “I didn’t take another woman home,” he repeated. “That was Phoebe taking my drunk ass home.”
I turned back to look towards the kids. “You know, this thing was supposed to be uncomplicated with zero expectations. Us fighting about stupid shit doesn’t feel uncomplicated.”
“We’re not fighting,” he denied. “We’re having a serious discussion about what’s going on between us.”
“Most people would call that a fight, Roman,” I drawled out.
“Well, I don’t give a fuck about most people,” he retorted. “I only care about right now.”
“What changed?” I asked. I mean, I knew what changed for me, but I had no idea what had changed for Roman. “What happened to not wanting to hear a woman’s mouth at the end of a hard day’s work? What happened to not wanting to hear complaining, bitching, and whining? What happened to peace being priceless?”
“I saw another man coming out of your house for shit that I could easily do for you,” he answered honestly. “I saw you crying and had no fucking idea what was wrong. You introduced me to your friend as just your neighbor.” He looked back out towards the kids. “I’ve been pissed off since I saw Victor walking out of your front door, and I’m not up to pretending like I’m not anymore, Haven.”
“So, what are you proposing? All the reasons for you doing this still exist,” I pointed out. “Though you’ve let up on the reins a bit by letting the twins stay with your parents overnight now, you still work all day, then have to come home to take care of your children. Lunch hour quickies still seem like the only way to keep doing this.”
“Yeah, we might still only be able to fuck while the kids are in school, but now we’ll be doing other stuff when it’s not all about sex,” he replied. “Like going to fucking dinner this weekend.”
“And what about the twins?” I asked, cringing inwardly because I was being everything that he’d said he didn’t want in his life. “Are we just friends in front of them?”
“Yes,” he answered automatically, and I wanted to feel hurt about his answer, but I knew that I couldn’t. Roman was super protective over his kids, and he’d never been hesitant about letting that be known. I mean, for Christ’s sakes, he wouldn’t even let them spend the night at his own parents’ house until recently. I couldn’t imagine that he’d be the type to parade different women around in front of his kids. He was definitely the type to protect his kids from getting too close to someone, only to have it not work out later on.
The problem with that was that I was already in love with his kids. They were my friends. Yeah, it was strange to call a pair of five-year-olds my friends, but that’s what they were. Over the past few weeks, we’d become more than just the kids from across the street and the lady with the puppies.
“Let me think about it-”
“No,” he said, standing up. “We’re dating now, so just deal with it.” Before I could call him out on his macho arrogance, he called out to the kids. “Okay, it’s time to go.” Both kids groaned, but that didn’t stop Roman from being an ass. “It’ll be dinner soon, and we need to spend some quality time together.”
“He always gets us with the quality time thing,” Zach muttered, and I choked out a laugh.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, baby,” he said, making sure that only I could hear him. “Be ready.”
Yeah, I was pretty sure that nothing could get me ready for whatever Roman had planned next.
Chapter 19
Roman~
I felt like a caged tiger, waiting for my owner to open the gate for my feeding. Now that we’d laid our cards out on the table, the thought of fucking Haven felt positively feral to me. I wasn’t going to be inside some woman that I’d made a deal with anymore. I was going to be inside a woman that I actually had feelings for, and I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d had a meaningful relationship with the opposite sex.
I also knew that once a day for an hour wasn’t going to be enough for me anymore. I was going to need more, but I still had to find a way to balance that out with fatherhood. Even though the kids already knew Haven and considered her their friend, being their friend and being in their lives were two different things. The last thing that I needed or wanted was another woman walking out on my kids, no matter what I felt for Haven Oslind.
So, how did I make her feel important while hiding her from the two people that meant the most in the world to me? Also, how long before Haven got tired of being second-best? Plus, being nice to my kids and being recruited to help raise them were also on opposite ends of the life spectrum. Did Haven even want kids? Every time that I reminded myself that I knew nothing about her, the more frustrated I became. I had a million questions and no answers, and I had no one to blame but myself.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I looked at the last text that I sent her, and I noticed that she still hadn’t responded. Maybe that was the reason behind my anxiousness. Normally, Haven texted me back immediately when I informed her that I was on my way. However, today, it was crickets, and I had no idea if she was really rejecting me or if something was going on that I should be there to take care of.
I was a chauvinist, so sue me.
Making an executive decision, I got into my truck, not caring that she hadn’t texted me back. It wasn’t like I hadn’t warned her. I’d told her yesterday to be ready for me today, so she couldn’t claim ignorance.
When I was finally driving down our street, I was met with a familiar sight of Victor fucking Lewis and Haven walking out of her front door.
Motherfucker.
Doing my best not to speed down the street, mowing down anyone in my path, I was grinding my teeth by the time I pulled into my driveway. If Haven didn’t have Victor over to cancel their contract, then I was going to lose my shit on her. Yeah, we were still trying to figure this shit out, but Haven had to know that I wasn’t going to let Victor redesign her backyard.
Storming across the street-very much like last time-I came upon them laughing about something that I couldn’t give a shit about. I also wasn’t going to pretend that I wasn’t jealous. We were past that now, and Victor needed to know that Haven was mine.
“Hey, Roman,” he greeted, a damn friendly smile on his face.
“Lewis,” I greeted before sliding my eyes Haven’s way. “Fancy seeing you here again.”
“Haven and I were just finalizing the designs for her backyard,” he announced like I wasn’t about to smash his face in for being a good landscaper.
“Oh, really?”
Victor must have heard something in my voice because his eyes started darting back and forth between me and Haven. “Uh…yeah,” he said carefully. “She picked the-”
“Don’t really care what she picked, Victor,” I said rudely. “I just care that she still hired you.”
His brows shot upward, the fucker trying to hide a grin. “Well, I am good at what I do,” he remarked. “Plus, she’s already seen and been satisfied with my work.”
“It’s not anything that I can’t do for her myself,” I fired back. “Plus, since I can do it for free, I can’t see you beating that discount.”
“Okay, hold up,” Haven said, finally chiming in. “No need to get out the measuring sticks, men.”
I whirled around on her. “What the fuck are you still hiring him for?”
“Because he’s good at his job, and he did the previous work on my backyard,” Haven explained again. “It makes sense to hire him for the renovation on-”
“I don’t give a fuck what makes sense, Haven,” I snapped, ridiculously angry that I kept acting like an asshole. Having fucked this thing up from the beginning, I felt like I was trying to come up from behind for the win. “He’s not going to be redesigning your backyard.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “I’ve already signed the contract, Roman. I’m not about to pay the forfeit because you’re losing your mind.”
“Fine,” I bit out. “I’ll pay the forfeit.”
“Roman, I am not going to pull this job from-”
“Haven, I suggest that you-”
“Okay, okay, kids,” Victor chuckled. “Let’s calm down-”
“Send the bills my way,” I told Victor, cutting him off. “If she’s going to be stubborn about this shit, then I’ll pay for the redesign.”
“Roman-”
“So help me God, Haven,” I swore. “If you say one more word-”
“Okay, stop it, you two,” Victor instructed, still trying to keep from laughing at us. “I’ll do the redesign, but I’ll also send Roman the bill. A great compromise for everyone, don’t you think?”
Haven crossed her arms over her chest, glowering at me. “This is ridiculous.”
“I’ll show you ridiculous,” I threatened.
“Look, I’m not sure what the hell is going on between you two, but I don’t have time to sit around and watch the show,” Victor chuckled. “Though I really would like to.” He stretched his arm out to shake my hand. “I’ll be seeing you around, Roman.” Then the fucker grinned. “I’ll make sure to send you those statements.”
I shook his hand because none of this was his fault. “Be sure that you do,” I replied pointedly. “No matter how fucking stubborn she gets.”
Victor just chuckled before getting into his truck. I was very aware that I’d just made a fool out of both me and Haven, but testosterone muddled the male brain, it really did. Masculinity was no joke, and I was just lucky enough that Victor could sympathize, or else I’d probably be headed off to jail right now.
“Was that really necessary?” Haven growled.
“Why in the fuck did you sign that contract after our conversation yesterday?” I snapped. “Are you trying to unman me?”
Her hazel eyes widened. “Have you lost your mind? I already explained why-”
“Get in the house,” I ordered.
Haven looked behind her, then back at me. “Is there someone standing behind me? Because there’d better be if you’re talking to someone like that.”
The trying wench started tapping her toe.
“You’re driving me fucking nuts,” I swore as I ran a hand through my hair.
“Because you’re a picnic to deal with?” she retorted. “You’ve gone completely insane, Roman.”
“Well, you should have answered my fucking text,” I shot back.
Her eyes widened again. “Is this what two days without sex looks like?”
My eyes narrowed at the fruit loop. “This is what you seeking out other men looks like.”
“Seeking out other men?” she echoed. “Do you hear yourself, Roman?”
“Your lunch hours belong to me,” I hissed. “The next time you want to schedule an appointment with a landscaper, plumber, a Jehovah Witness, or any-damn-body, don’t do it during our lunch hour.”
“Our lunch hour?”
Done arguing with her, I reached down, grabbed her by her hips, then threw her over my shoulder in a fireman’s hold.
I slapped her ass for good measure.
“Oh, my God,” she screeched. “Roman, put me down.”
“Hello, kids,” Mrs. Mabel Hearst greeted, causing me to turn towards her voice.
“Hello, Mrs. Hearst,” I greeted back. “It’s good to see you, ma’am.”
Haven’s arm came up, waving like we weren’t making a spectacle of ourselves. “Hello, Mrs. Mabel.”
“Well…uhm, I’ll just let you kids…get on with your day,” she muttered, and I knew that this scene was going to be replayed for the entire bingo hall later on.
“Have a good day, Mrs. Hearst,” I replied, waving her on.
“Have a good day, kids,” she returned before going about her business.
As soon as I started making my way towards Haven’s front door, the lunatic in my arms hissed, “I’m going to kill you, Roman Scott.”
“Yeah, well, you’re more than welcomed to try,” I drawled out, slapping her ass again because she really did have a sexy ass.
“Slowly,” she added, and all I could do was shake my head at what I was getting myself into.
Chapter 20
Haven~
As soon as Roman put me down in the middle of the living room, I glared up at him. “I can’t believe you did that,” I huffed. “You do realize that we’re going to be the talk of the town now, right?”
“Maybe the neighborhood, but not the whole town,” he remarked dismissively.
Ignoring that, I said, “And you are not going to pay for the renova-”
“I’m going to stop you there, Haven,” he said. “I get that we started this thing between us in a rather unconventional way, but now that we’re dating, it’s my job to take care of you.”
“I don’t need a man to take care of me,” I argued. “I just want one that’s going to be there when I need him to be. It’s not rocket science.”
“Get over it,” he shot back. “I’m not sure what kind of men you’ve been dating before me, but get used to living in a cave, baby, because I’m taking you back a few decades.”
“You know what? You need a spiritual cleansing,” I told him. “I’m going to have Shiloh bring over her crystals and candles because you need help.”
“As long as she doesn’t bring over the spell book, I’m game for whatever you want to do to me,” he replied, and I was so mad at myself for saying that picking up dirty laundry was the only thing that men did to give me headaches.
